Muse finally returned for a show in Minneapolis after nearly 10 years! For once I missed the Chicago show on this tour as it was the night before, and I did not trust February weather in the Midwest. As it was, Mother Nature got a blizzard out of the way a few days before the show, just barely allowing my braver friends to make the road trip there and back overnight.
Target Center has generally been awesome for indoor queueing, but after a 10 year gap, I thought it would be good to check in with the staff. It turned out to be all new people, but they were great and took good care of us. I could only have wished for bathroom access in the building, but the way it's set up would make that a security problem. So when Kelsy arrived in town the day before, I chose Kieran's for lunch partly to scope out the bathroom situation. It was no sacrifice as the fish & chips were divine.
Most of us agreed to start the queue at 8 am, and within an hour the Chicago crew arrived. They said it was really nice driving, no semis! I was number 12, right behind Melodie who drove up from Iowa the night before. At 10 am when Kieran's opened, this old lady made a mad dash over, then had an omelet while chatting with the bartender. He and the other staff did seem surprised that there were dozens of people queuing for Muse already. For a while the queue was not that big, but more people arrived mid-afternoon.
Queuing
It seemed every time my staff contacts came to check on us, I was making a bathroom run! I probably did more than most given my age, wasn't sure I should even be attempting barrier, but being able to see Matt up close is powerful motivation, plus I had a pair of socks for him again. 😊 There was a sound check delay after doors, so some people started making quick runs for merch. I finally went for it as well, and of course they let us in at that moment. I hustled to the barrier, knowing Mel would hold a spot, went to the wrong side first, but caught up with her on Matt's side. Then I did the wide stance so she could do a merch run. It really was quite orderly and pleasant though, My crew all got good spots.
Matt side barrier babes
Chris' side, photo by Lisa Smith
No Circle of Death for Madness this time
One OK Rock from Japan was the first opener, and a nice surprise. Apparently they are huge in Japan, and I can see why, very talented, real rock musicians that had a good blend of classic rock and modern influences.
One OK Rock
Evanescence was up next. I was familiar with their earlier work but had not really followed them. Amy Lee s voice was as beautiful and powerful as ever, but sadly drowned out in the mix by over-heavy drums. It was bad enough to be physically uncomfortable from where I was, so I just tried to endure until it was time for Muse.
Amy Lee
Evanescence
Those of us who had queued all day tried to stretch our backs during the break, thankfully it wasn't too long, and once Muse was on the stage I got my usual energy boost, and didn't entirely remember I had a cranky knee. There was pyro for the opening song. Will of the People, and it seemed like every 3 songs or so after that!
It's WOTPING Time!
I thought I might get some good photos of Dom for a change, but that cymbal was in my way, luckily others captured "arm porn" , he did not keep that jacket on for long!
Dom, photo by Lisa Smith
One of my old favs, Map of the Problematique , returned to the set list with a bonus outro from our own Prince's Sign O the Times. The person who posted this must have been about 3 people away from me.
My cover photo for this post is a screencap from Compliance which came fairly early in the set, and now includes streamers. Lisa caught that moment.
Matt welcomes streamers during Compliance, photo by Lisa Smith
Many of us were looking forward to hearing Verona live, they debuted it the night before, it was beautiful and moving and maybe it wouldn't have mattered if Matt didn't hit all the high notes, but he did, perfectly.
Matt singing Verona, screencap from my video
I only did a snippet of video so I could watch the rest of it properly.
Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Though the lyrics are dark, You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween is fun to dance to, and someone near me yelled out "I'm you're biggest fan!" at the appropriate moment. (Misery reference)
The Dark Side Alternate Reality Version was an atmospheric moment. I think we all tried to photograph it, but Lisa's photo is better than mine. Matt is perched on the shoulder of the figure in the background, known as Will the Hacker.
The Dark Side AR by Lisa Smith
I think this may have been during Supermassive Black Hole. "Guitar sex" is part of why I queued all day. 😈
Matt Bellamy. photo by Sean Kelly
The crowd did a great job singing along with the silly noises Matt makes to start off Plug In Baby. We stayed pumped up through Uprising, and soon we were introduced to "Baph" This character appeared in a video earlier in the show but I would like to hear more about it!
"Baph" is this Murph in a new outfit?
Kill or Be Killed included more pyro though I didn't catch those parts.
Finally the melancholy notes of Man With a Harmonica sounded, in all but one show I've attended this is the intro to the closer, Knights of Cydonia, now also with pyro! I didn't photograph anything so I could bounce but I was also getting ready....I had a pair of socks for Matt with a shroom design that I had been unable to get to him in Chicago last fall. At this point, I had decided I was going to go for tossing them on the catwalk since I was in a good position to do so. The guys walked out to the B stage to say goodnight and tossed picks and sticks. As they walked back, I lobbed the socks and they landed right in front of Matt and he quickly scooped them up. Then he turned to see where they came from and we exchanged a wave. 💓 A perfect ending for me, and quite a few of us did well getting mementos, with Ariel getting Chris' harmonica just in time for her birthday.
The setlist: it was long enough for me.
photo by Lisa Smith
Some people had to catch rides or rest right after the show, but the majority of Musers I know (and many that I did not know!) converged on Pizza Luce. It's pretty smart to have slices cafeteria style at that hour, but even so they were overwhelmed. The staff hung in there though, and soon caught up. I downed a can of fizzy water and 2 or 3 glasses of plain water, and still felt somewhat dehydrated later. Our people did not all fit at one table, but it was still great to be together processing the awesomeness of what we had just experienced. The number 12 has faded from my hand now, but I have some confetti, a cool t-shirt, and lots of extra warm memories.
Way back whenever it was tickets went on sale, I was thrilled to see one of the few special small venue Muse shows was in Chicago! My travel budget is limited, but Chicago is always the easy one to get to with my sister in the South Loop. I recall it was moderately stressful to get the ticket, involving persistence & refreshing, but at least the price didn't skyrocket. At that time we'd already heard 3 or 4 singles from the Will of the People album, and they all rocked hard, so we were excitedly waiting for the album release Aug, 26 and this fall mini-tour.
Muser coordination was tested, but rose to the challenges in getting people to Chicago, and to the queue. By dumb luck, it turned out Catherine was taking the same train to Chicago as me. It was wonderful to have a chance to catch up and also to know who was sitting next to me, because there have been some characters on this route.
Chicago, South Loop
As usual, Mandy Elizabeth was my guide for figuring how I wanted to queue. I am still very COVID cautious and was having mixed feelings about going for the barrier where I expected people to be packed in tight. I'd had my bivalent booster though, so I decided to give myself a chance at it and we settled on early morning arrival. We thought the venue might boot folks off the street at night anyway.
As it turned out, they didn't, and the queue that started Monday night held with Catherine at no. 10, More of us waited until morning; Mandy was 39 and messaged to check on me, Kyiia also checked up on me, good to have all these folks looking out for the elderly! I was en route and ended up at 46. It was a pleasant sunny morning of sharing snacks and catching up until Mandy's car got towed thanks to ambiguous signage. While she dealt with that, we held spots and took turns getting food, and by afternoon the rain started. It rained steadily until doors, making it a bit harder to run around and chat with folks.
Morning queue
We had kept our order, but as happens all too often, the venue messed it up by opening multiple entries and letting people rush them. So I am not sure if I would have had a much better spot anyway, but found myself on the very far left edge of the barrier in front of speakers. I could not see well and it was a bad camera angle, so I was about to go look for Amy Blaschke at the bar when I saw Crystal at the second barrier, one level up. I could see much better there, and people weren't shoving, they even let me make one last bathroom run. I decided the merch line was too long though, and that it was too much to ask them to hold it that long. Most people who had queued ahead of me, including Mandy, seem to have managed barrier spots. Soon the opening act, Brigitte Calls Me Baby, were on. They were a good, high energy opener, I'd say kind of a retro rock style. The lead singer had a good voice and charisma. Found out later they have a new album out, but if I had to guess, I would think they have not been together long.
Brigitte Calls Me Baby
Then we found Wendy, Lisa, and Melodie were also back by the soundboard, but we were good with our spot. It would have been hard to move then anyway. After what seemed like a long wait, especially when I could glimpse Matt in the wings bouncing around with his guitar, Muse went straight into their new in-your-face banger We Are Fucking Fucked. Center of the 2nd barrier was great for viewing, but my phone camera struggled with the extra distance. Anyhow, we were all ready to be jumping!
Video from a fan in the balcony, Max Griffith.
Amy Philips was in a much better spot for photography on the first barrier,
Muse by Amy Phillips
Muse by Amy Phillips
The band really seemed happy to be there, despite some technical difficulties. I don't know TJ but they are a hero for getting the entire gig on YouTube!
Though I had felt stiff before the show started, I spent most of it bouncing /singing along, with occasional pauses to try to get photos or video. I believe this was my first time hearing the full version of Assassin, and I know it was the first time for Space Dementia live.
Matt playing Space Dementia
The band really seemed to be feeling the love from the crowd, especially Matt during Starlight.
by Amy Phillips
by me
The encore break seemed a bit long too, but no way would they leave without doing Kill or be Killed AND Knights of Cydonia. Epic ending to an epic show!
the Wolstenbeest
The setlist, for posterity.
Not sure who took this, got it via Wendy, this really did feel like a family reunion!
Most of my Musers, a few are missing...
The original plan to try to find a GF restaurant didn't happen as the closest one was too far. Most folks wanted to head back to the hotel where they were staying. I was getting whiny about needing to rehydrate, but luckily spotted a case of sealed water bottles abandoned near the back of where the queue had been, so I grabbed one.
The Guesthouse Hotel was really cool, very much more like staying at someone's house than a normal hotel. In fact, the kitchen area looked like it had the same designer as my sister's place! After a bite to eat, one StrawberryRita, and a whole lot more water, I called a Lyft, Some people did need to travel early the next day, my train was later in the day, but I figured getting my evening cal/mag supplement would also head off leg cramps. Geez I sound like an old fart! but I guess I am, 63 in December.
This year it truly was a family visit only, the only headliner that looked good to me was Foo Fighters, and Lollapalooza 2017 left a persistent bad taste in my mouth, so going to it was not on my radar at all. It was just weird luck that it was the only time all 3 of us could get off work. Bill insisted on being the only driver of his newish 6 speed Mazda, so I got a good start on my reading.
We arrived in plenty of time for supper, ravioli in a rich homemade sauce and garden salad, I had to help my dad read the directions on the ravioli package, so he is having eye trouble on top of hearing trouble, but this print was small enough that I needed magnification myself! The boys did some tech troubleshooting for their grandfather, and Bill started streaming Our Planet, which was a nice pairing with the first book I dived into, "The Uninhabitable Earth".
The next morning we travellers had a late brunch (my dad was up and at it early as usual) , then we caught a Metra train for downtown since parking is a nightmare during Lolla. We saw some festival attendees at our station, recognizable by Camelbaks on the dudes, and short shorts & skimpy tops on the girls, 2 stops later the train was totally infested with them, most not wearing masks, the girls going back & forth while trying to keep their body parts inside their clothes. So we got all the people watching for the low price of a train ticket! I just hope they were all vaccinated.
Our purpose downtown was the Chicago River Boat Architectural Tour and to see my sister Diane's new place.. I don't know what Diane paid for the tour, but it was well worth it, super educational and full of photo ops, though I made better use of some than others.
It will always be the Sears Tower to me!
Then I think it was Peter, Diane's partner, who thought it would be cool to walk back to their place along the lakeshore. It was very nice, and not too hot, but some of us were not used to walking 5 miles at once! So we whined a bit and dived right into the chips and dip when we got to our destination. We had a rather upscale burger cookout as you might expect in a place like this! It is technically a condo,but feels like a house and has a private entrance.
Bill, Ted and Joe lounging
Thankfully Diane was able to drive us back to the suburbs though it might have still been early for running into drunk Lolla attendees.
Sunday started out at a relaxed pace but was almost ruined by DuPage Medical Group! I was able to hear the call since my dad has his phone turned up, they told him to come to the ER right away because a blood culture from Tuesday made it look like he had a raging infection of some kind. We were all baffled because he clearly wasn't sick after walking 5 miles the day before. He had been in to urgent care for a stomach bug the weekend before, followed up with his doc on Tuesday and supposedly everything was fine. After a couple hours of undoubtedly expensive further testing they let him out in time for dinner and admitted the other test might have had "external contamination" . In other words, he got to pay for their sloppiness so they could cover their butts.
Joe and his girlfriend Hannah brought their cats over for a visit before we went to dinner. My dad sits for them so it's like their 2nd home.
Toulouse
Avignon
Anyhow, the afternoon drama made us extra glad to be having a relaxed dinner at Reza's. Persian food is a bit different from Armenian, but still, many things tasted like what Auntie Rose would have made. We went a bit crazy on bread and starters, the tabbouli was top notch, and the eggplant dip ( a cousin of baba ganoush but slightly different) was yummy. So then when our huge dinner portions arrive, we knew we'd need doggie bags! Sadly no room for dessert.
My dad, my nephew Joe, and Hannah
Chicken Kabob Sultani
Lamb kabobs
Then we did obligatory family photos since it had been so long and who knows when we can all manage this again.
My dad, Bill, Diane, Ted, me & Joe - Hannah took the photo
Bill, Ted, & Joe
Then it was back to Minnesota and our own cats since Ted had to get back to his new job. We were lucky to have nice driving weather and no accident-causing traffic jams either way.
.jpg)
